The Second Time Around
by JenKy
Summary: It's been five years since they've seen each other.  Thrown together in work, will they be able to stay platonic or will they find that love is better the second time around?
1. Chapter 1

She knew she shouldn't have stayed out late last night drinking with friends and colleagues. Looking around at her mess of an apartment, she tried to locate her favorite black pumps so she could finally head to work and hopefully only be half an hour late. It was times like these when she really missed living with someone who knew her completely and could help find missing items like shoes, purses, umbrellas, etc. Both Logan and her mother (the only two people she really ever lived with for extended periods of time) would know exactly where to look for said shoes…Logan because after 3 years he was well aware of this particular quirk and he embraced the insanity of living with a Gilmore girl. And Lorelai, by definition of a Gilmore girl, was the master of the odd shoe storage, a trait obviously passed down through the same genetic code that gave Rory her vibrant blue eyes. She felt a pang thinking of the two.

Five years ago on what was supposed to be one of the happiest moments in her young life, graduation day from Yale, she lost the love of her life. Her relationship with Logan ended abruptly and badly. She hadn't been expecting that proposal, and she certainly wasn't expecting him to walk away when she said that she just wasn't ready to be married at 22.

This was about the same time that things continued to change with Lorelai. Rory learned that some things were just best left unsaid to her mother. Lorelai was no longer the _best_ friend. Logan had taken over that role during their relationship and when they parted ways, she lost her best friend. Because Lorelai was never really his biggest fan, despite her protestations, Rory didn't think she could confide the deep loss she felt when he left and moved across the country. It also didn't help that Lorelai had, whether purposefully or not, steered Rory away from marriage and toward the career path. She argued that she had worked to be a journalist her whole life, which would be disrupted if she fell into the society trap by marrying a Huntzberger. When Rory read the wedding announcement for the Huntzberger heir a year after the rejected proposal, the Gilmore girls drifted a little further apart. Granted it was a little easier because Rory was away on assignments during this time so she could keep that distance between her reality and what she shared with her mother. She had become somewhat of a master at lying by omission to her mother and evading uncomfortable questioning, especially now that Lorelai's personal life wasn't the complete train wreck that it had always been.

Taking in the current time, Rory realized that her little reminiscence of the past had cost her precious minutes and there was no way she would attain the half hour late goal. _Damn! Where are those stupid shoes?_, she thought as she glanced in the kitchen. Finally giving up she headed back to her bedroom to pick a different pair of shoes from the closet. Flipping on the closet light, she cursed to herself, "of course I'm going to find my stupid frakking shoes in here among the rest of them. Seriously why is the closet the last place I expect to find my shoes?"

Fully dressed, Rory left her apartment and headed to her downtown office. She had a new story to pitch to Hugo so she was eager to get started and hear his opinion. Granted at this point, having worked for Hugo for about 5 years now, getting approval for stories was really just for show. She couldn't remember the last time one of her ideas was turned down or shelved. A lot of this had to do with the fact that she remained loyal to Hugo after all these years instead of moving on to bigger and better things. (Despite offers, she had her reasons for staying exactly where she was, besides she wasn't hurting for exposure or salary.) She stopped at a nearby newsstand and picked up the _Times_ as well as a very large coffee and bagel. As she found a seat on the subway, she perused the headlines on the front-page of the newspaper. Not finding anything that piqued her interest, she turned to find the crossword and got out her pen. For the second time this morning she thought of Logan and their daily ritual of completing the _Times_ crossword together. Despite her obvious penchant for words, it was actually Logan who excelled at these. She would write in the answers and ask for hints whenever she was stumped—which happened even more by the end of the week when the difficulty increased. Rory tried to shake off all thoughts of Logan, _where was all this coming from? _It had been years since she he popped into her head this often; she had forced herself to move on when she learned of his marriage to a society girl that his parents probably heartily approved as being _proper Huntzberger material_. "Enough!" her head screamed. Putting away the paper altogether, she dug in her purse for reading material.

Bad idea—immersed in Bukowski, she missed her stop thus making her even later for her meeting with Hugo. _Ugh! Could this day get any worse?_ Running into her building (well walking briskly, after all she is still a Gilmore), Rory made her way up to the 15th floor office of her friend and boss. Scanning to make sure he was not otherwise occupied, she stepped into his office and had a seat opposite him.

"Okay let me start by apologizing for my tardiness. You would not believe the morning I've had! My shoes were not in their normal hiding spot in the kitchen, plus I had to stop for my coffee, and then I missed my stop," she ranted.

She was about to continue when Hugo cut her off. "Rory it's okay. We weren't even supposed to meet for another 10 minutes." He almost laughed at the look on her face.

"What are you talking about? You told me 8:00 a.m."

"I sent you an email yesterday changing it. I had something come up, some business to attend to this morning. Since you were late anyway, you're actually right on time. I'm sorry if our wires got crossed, but you're here now so shoot. Let's hear this new pitch." He could have sworn he had let her known of the switch, but considering it was Logan that was his morning business, he very well could have let it slip from his mind. After 5 years, he was starting to mix up his stories. Being the confidant of those two was really wearing on him…if only they knew the interest the other still had over what was going on in their lives…Hugo snapped out if realizing that Rory had begun her pitch.

"…kind of a follow-up to when I covered his campaign. I've already covered the first 100 days. But now we're really starting to see him trying to get some of his platform policies passed into law like healthcare reform. I have some contacts on the Hill with the insurance lobby as well as the point of view of economists as to how the country is going to pay for this during a recession. I could get a piece out before the congressional vote and then another once we get an idea of the final bill and if it is passed or not. There has been a lot of talk of different riders being attached to the bill and all kinds of pork that may even entice Obama to veto his own bill. There is just so much potential here for a multi-part story. I know that several other reporters are doing this story, but I have an angle and perspective that isn't really being covered and my contacts are not the usuals that everyone is sick of seeing and hearing…so what do you think?"

Hugo sat amazed by her ability talk so quickly with limited breaks for breathing. Once he finally caught up to her thought process though, he was on board. After all this time, he was well aware of her interesting angles that she found in stories. Her presentation was one thing that made her a favorite among many in the news business. She brought fresh eyes to the same old stuff that has been reported to death. She was a complete asset and he didn't know what he would do if/when she finally decided to leave him and his company. "That sounds great Rory. And remember to breathe next time," he said with a smile. "So story is set, is there anything else you want to talk about?" He wondered if she had read the _Times_ yet.

"No, I really just want to get started on this. I'm really excited about this piece. I should be able to reconnect with a lot of old friends doing this piece. Plus I just really think that the arguments over the socialization of certain industries in this country are going to be a hot button issue for years to come. I love topics that spark debate." Seeing the amused look on Hugo's face she realized that she had gotten completely ahead of herself like always. Now was the time to exit before he could make fun of her. "Okay, so I'm just going to go and get started. I've already got several meetings set up. If you need anything you know where to find me. Oh, and you didn't send me an email yesterday." She said that last part walking out of his office so he couldn't refute her.

Settling behind her desk, she booted up her computer and got to work. A few hours had passed with Rory working diligently when her phone rang. The opportunity for a break and coffee refill presented itself. Glancing at the caller id, she smiled and picked up, "You have reached Rory's House of Pie, how may I service you?"

"Is it an actual house made of pie, or a place that sells pie? Either way, I'm in." Lorelai loved that Rory still indulged in some of the silliness that had started to fade over the years. Lorelai noticed the change after Rory had graduated from Yale. She had become a little more distant and less likely to join in on the silly banter that had defined the Gilmore girls. She knew the reason, but she didn't want to mention it to Rory and she didn't want to admit it to herself. She felt somewhat responsible, but ultimately it was Rory's decision and she still believes that it was the right one for Rory at that time.

Rory interrupted Lorelai's thoughts before she could really get too far into them. "Hey mom. What's up?"

"Can't a mother just want to call and check up on her firstborn and favorite daughter?"

"Your only daughter you mean? And you know you can call pretty much whenever. I'm just working on a story, so I figured I'd move this along a little bit."

"You never have time for our chats anymore…" Lorelai sighed. "Do you think you can make a trip home at some point in the near future? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, plus Adolph and Eva want to get together for a dinner."

Rory hated when Lorelai laid the guilt trip on her. She wasn't in school anymore; she didn't have the same kind of time to talk during the day plus she didn't live in Connecticut anymore so visits were rare as well. Lorelai knew this; she shouldn't try and make her feel bad for it. "Mom, I'm working. If you want to chat more then you need to call in the evenings when I am either done with work or should be done. As for a visit, maybe next week or the week after. It depends on how the story is coming along. I have to finish it before the Senate votes on the healthcare reform bill."

"Okay, okay. I'll let mom and dad know about a possible visit in the upcoming week or so. Can you spare a few minutes right now though?"

"Sure. What's up?"

Hesitantly Lorelai brought up the real reason why she called, "Oh nothing much, have you seen the _Times_ this morning?"

"Well I bought a copy and started on the crossword, but I haven't actually read any of the content yet. Why the sudden interest in my perusal of the newspaper?"

"I think there is an article that I think you will find interesting."

"I have to find it and read it? You can't just tell me what it is that I will find interesting?" At her mother's lack of response she sighed and started searching through the paper. As she flipped through headlines and tossing out topics for approval, she finally came upon one article in particular that gave her pause. As she pored over the article, she felt her heartbeat quicken and she started to feel a little lightheaded. She didn't know what to do with this information. And why was her mother the one to bring this to her attention. Emily, Richard, or Hugo maybe, but coming from her mother it just seemed odd.

Just as she was finishing the article and gazing over the accompanying picture Hugo walked over to her desk. Noting the look on her face and the object in her hands, he knew that she found out. "So, you've read it, huh? If you want to talk let me know." She just nodded wordlessly. It had been 5 years, why did she let this affect her? She was supposed to have been over him; at least that's what she told herself. She was in a relationship! He was not supposed to make her still feel like this.

**A/N: This is not anything that hasn't been done before, but I was listening to an old Frank Sinatra cd and he sings this song so I thought, "what if". I, like most others, was not satisfied with the ending of the show so I have to imagine that there was some kind of resolution for these characters. Let me know if it is choppy or odd—I wrote this over a year ago for another site and I haven't looked at it in a while. I am currently finishing ch. 5 of this story so hopefully I will get back into the swing of things and not go another year between chapters. **


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: **_If this chapter seems a bit choppy or redundant (especially near the end), I apologize. I lost the last part of this chapter and had to start over—which sucks. Thanks for those who reviewed.

_**Chapter 2:**_

Less than 24 hours. It took less than 24 hours for the news of his divorce to hit the papers. Did he expect the news to be printed? Sure…eventually, but why did this have to be news at all? But of course, because of the families involved, he should have known better. He didn't have time to deal with this. Searching his computer, he found and opened the file he needed. It felt good to be writing articles again. Now that it wasn't forced on him to have his byline in the paper, he could admit that he really did have a talent and love for writing. Doing a quick spot check of his current piece, he saved it and sent it to Hugo.

He didn't have to wait more than half an hour for Hugo's call to come in. "Logan, isn't it 5:00 in California? Why are you awake, much less turning in an article right now?"

"Because I'm in New York. I told you about the company expanding; well I'm heading up the New York office now. I'm over here finalizing some things and looking for an apartment. Which considering current life circumstances a move across the country is exactly what I need."

"Yeah, I read about that. Tell me if I'm out of line, but what happened there? I know things weren't all that great, but I thought you guys were working on it."

"Well short story is she figured out that I couldn't give her everything she ever wanted."

"And what was it that she wanted that you couldn't give her? I mean, I don't want to rub salt in the wounds here but you're a Huntzberger, isn't everything pretty much there for the taking with that name?"

"Well when what you want, money can't buy, then I guess the answer is no."

"Okay, can you be any vaguer? You're talking in circles."

"Simply put, I didn't love her like she wanted to be loved, so she wanted out. I can't really blame her for that. Plus she wanted to start trying for kids, and I just didn't see that for us anytime soon. So Nicole thought it was best to just end it now. And since I'm not really that torn up about it, I think she probably has the right idea in going ahead with a divorce."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Rory, does it? I know you still keep tabs on her, at least over her professional life, but you're not still hung up on her, are you? Because it's been five years, and you've been married for over three of those."

Logan thought about how to answer those questions. It wasn't something he liked to dwell on or think about…his feelings for Rory. He tried to block out those memories, both good and bad because it was still painful. She was his first love, and it's true what all those sappy chick flicks say 'you never forget your first love.' "Yes and no. At least not in the way you think. Yes Rory has something to do with it because when I got involved with Nicole, I wasn't over what had happened with Rory. But I was so set to make everyone in my life see that I was okay and that I had moved on, that I dove head first into a relationship with Nicole. She was supposed to be the rebound, but she just kind of stuck. I was working all those crazy hours with the start-up that the consistency of just having one person there was comforting. Next thing I know, we've been together for about 6 months and she's moved in and was talking about marriage. I knew that our relationship was not like the one I had with Rory, but obviously that wasn't the worst thing because she could actually see a future with me. She wanted to factor me into her life permanently instead of freaking out that I would be limiting her prospects for her career. And I did love her, and still do, in my own way, but I'm not sure I was ever in love with her. So anyway, in that way, yes, it has something to do with Rory. But am I still hung up on Rory? No. I wish her well. I read her articles, but I don't sit here anymore and think _what could have been_. That was a long time ago. I loved her, but I am not still in love with her."

"So then you don't ever think about what would happen if you ran into each other today? Because if you're planning on living here it's going to happen, especially if you're going to continue to write for me. And I'd like to prepare Rory for that actuality. Whether she's over you or not, she's not going to want to be surprised with this."

"Rory is one of the strongest women I know; she's not going to have any problems sharing this big city with me. I'm sure she's moved on; it's been 5 years. And if she hasn't, that's not my problem. She's the one who quit our relationship, so I'm sure she had no problems whatsoever moving on from what we had."

Hugo listened to Logan thinking that he couldn't have been further off. Despite what Rory said and did, she was still affected by the goings on in the young Huntzberger's life. She hadn't had any serious relationships and she still checked up on him and how he was doing via Hugo or the internet. He didn't think Rory would be able to handle running into Logan in some random place without any kind of preparation. One thing he did notice was that they both seem to have different ideas on who ended the relationship. _Ugh, he really hated being stuck in the middle. _"So you think she wouldn't have any problem whatsoever running into you at say a work function? Because there is a dinner for _CLIO_ and all contributors will be in attendance, since technically you are a contributor you should be there. If you don't run into her there it will be somewhere else, and you can judge for yourself how affected she is by your presence and vice versa. But you're kidding yourself if you think she's going to be completely okay with you re-entering her life in this way. With any luck, she will be as Zen about this whole thing as you appear to be. I, however, don't think that will be the case, for either of you, during your first meeting. And I'll leave you to think about that because I've got a conference call coming in. I'm glad you're back and we'll have to set something up so we can catch up properly. "

Logan barely got a goodbye in before Hugo was already off the phone. His friend had left him with a lot to think about regarding his expectations for first seeing Rory again. He realized that while he talked a good game, he didn't think he was going to be as unaffected as he lead on to Hugo. How could he be since he hadn't physically seen her in five years? Keeping tabs on someone was one thing, but an up close and personal meeting was another. He had kept himself from the what-ifs that Hugo mentioned, for the most part through marriage. Working 80-90 hour weeks didn't hurt either in terms of keeping his mind from going there. Work had been his saving grace when he first moved to California without his expected fiancée. It would have been easy to go back to life pre-Rory, but he knew that he couldn't do it. So instead he tried a different tactic and threw himself into his new job and new life. At first there was always the hope that she would break and call or even just show up. He gave up on that idea within the first couple of months. He knew she was stubborn and not big on grand gestures._ Of course he had to look no further than the declined proposal for her opinion on that_ he thought bitterly. But he held out a little longer for some kind of communication from her. He was not going to be the one to do the chasing this time. And so with that mindset, he waited for a call, text, or email that never came. As the days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, he gave up the hope that she would ever reach out to him. So he moved on. He met Nicole and things progressed quickly. Probably too quickly, but it was nice to have someone there. Moving to California without any of his safety nets had been hard and Nicole filled the void that Rory left in his life—it wasn't until later that he realized she hadn't entirely filled the void. He wanted to believe that what they had was as big and great as what he and Rory had, but he knew it wasn't.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed since he got off the phone with Hugo. His mind had drifted back to his time with Rory and his time without her. He was beginning to see Hugo's point. Nothing was ever easy when it came to Rory. And with that last thought, he opened a search engine to check up on her again and see where her latest thoughts and investigations had taken her.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay she could do this. She had been preparing herself all week; she could definitely do this. After listening to Hugo tell her that Logan was going to be in New York permanently _and _that he'd been contributing articles to Hugo's publication, she had begun to go into panic mode. So it had been 5 years, that didn't mean that she could just forget everything that happened between them and pretend that it wasn't a big deal to her that she would be seeing him again. She had finally moved on from the "what ifs" in her life concerning their lives together, and now she was afraid that those same thoughts would be coming back. She could be married to him right now; they could have a child if she had just accepted his proposal or if he could have waited for her to be ready for that next big step.

Even after promising herself that she wouldn't go there again, here she was imagining those same "what ifs". Staring blankly at her computer screen she felt the heat and pressure build up behind her eyes…yet one more thing she promised herself, not to cry about him anymore. As the first tear slipped down her cheek, she couldn't help thinking of the picture of their life that he had supplanted in her mind when he proposed. The cute little house in Palo Alto with the avocado tree in the backyard, the white picket fence, only now that backyard had a little swing set and sandbox with _their_ child right in the middle playing with her daddy. It was a matter of seconds before the second tear slipped from its perch and made its way down her cheek followed closely by the third and fourth. _Why couldn't I have just said yes? Why couldn't he have waited? Does he wonder about what our family would have looked like, how many children and which of us would they resemble the most? Did he ever think about having kids with his wife, had they talked about it?_

The sound of her cell phone thankfully aroused her from this awful train of thought. She would be perfectly happy to never know if Logan wants kids or has them or will have them. That was not her business anymore and she needed it to remain that way for the sake of her sanity. Wiping her eyes, she read the incoming text message. _Dinner tonight? Awful day, need therapy of at least 80 proof…_ Rory smiled, this was exactly what she needed. Andrew could take her mind off the inevitable meeting. He could even offer some insight into how she should handle things. So she texted back _when and where? I could definitely use some therapy too._

Logan had done well to settle in to his new life back on the East Coast. New York always did suit him better than California ever did. He briefly wondered if that was because of Rory. He never really allowed himself to settle in to his life out on the West Coast. It was all about forgetting what he left behind and moving on. He made a good show of moving on, hell he got married that should be the definition of moving on. But it was a lie, and Nicole finally realized that and asked for more from him or a divorce. Knowing that he had nothing left to give to her, he granted her the divorce. It shouldn't have felt like a relief having failed at marriage, but that is exactly what it was. He was relieved to not pretend that Nicole was what he saw in his future. It wasn't until she started talking kids that he realized his mistake in marrying her. He loved her; he did. He just wasn't _in love_ with her. God that sounded so cliché. He hated that he did that to her, giving her a false image and future to build her life around. But what was done is done. Looking back he was surprised Nicole didn't realize sooner that something was off with their relationship. Hell, maybe she did but she thought that his feelings for her would grow into something deeper. His phone alerted him that he needed to get going to his meeting, snapping him out of his latest thoughts. Thankfully he hadn't become so immersed in them to bring back the guilt that seemed to always be lurking in the pit of his stomach when he was with or thought of Nicole.

He was supposed to be meeting Hugo for dinner at a Chinese place close to the office. He looked forward to seeing his friend and maybe scoring some information on his former girlfriend. Hailing a cab, he quickly made his way across town.

Logan arrived earlier than expected, due to traffic significantly easing up. He gave the hostess his name and asked if Hugo had arrived yet or not. As he waited for the hostess to check the reservation, he noticed her. Of all the places for him to see her after all these years, it would have to be a Chinese restaurant. Not really paying attention to the hostess anymore, he watched her. She was sitting alone sipping on a martini. He debated getting this meeting over with once and for all. A public place, a quick hello, and be done with it. Then he wouldn't have to wonder when the inevitable awkwardness would happen. He could be proactive. Get it over with, say hello and leave before things get too weird. On the other hand, maybe it is best to wait until they have more time to deal with the situation. Screw it, he was always a spontaneous kind of guy. But just as he was headed over to get the awkwardness out of the way, her dinner companion showed up. If he were truthful with himself, seeing the smile light up her face pretty much sucked. He knew he didn't have any right to feel that way anymore, but he kind of hoped that she had never really moved on.

After he left her on her graduation day, a move which still bothers him, he wanted her to be happy…just not too happy. He could admit that he wanted her to regret her decision. He hoped that hearing about his marriage would upset her just a little bit. To be honest he kind of hoped for a last minute phone call or visit to talk him out of making the mistake of marrying the wrong girl. But he knew that wasn't her style; that was never her style. _Just like his proposal wasn't her style. _Nope he wasn't going there again. He had beaten himself up over that proposal for…years, sadly.

Shifting his focus back to Rory and her, what could only be assumed, her date, Logan made a few steps back toward the hostess stand away from sight of the diners. He noticed the easy manner between the two, the subtle touches, the smiles, the happiness in their eyes. Okay, he couldn't do this. He thought he had prepared himself for this, but no, he hadn't. It made sense that after all this time she would have someone, but he never thought he would have to witness her with someone else. That hadn't happened since Robert at Finn's Tarantino birthday party almost eight years ago. And that didn't really count because she was just trying to make him jealous…something she always denied.

At the sound of her laugh and the glimpse of her companion giving her a short kiss, Logan had about all he could handle. He definitely needed to find Hugo and find a new restaurant.

Just as Logan was about to leave the restaurant, Hugo walked in, "Hey, sorry I'm late. There was a problem with the server that was throwing everything off, but everything is fixed and all is right with the world." Hugo trailed off as he saw that Logan wasn't really paying too much attention to him, and he glanced over his friend's head to see what was so interesting in the dining room. It didn't take long to figure out what he was looking at. "I don't mean to quote the Clash or anything, but 'should we stay or should we go?'" Seeing the look on Logan's face said it all, "I was actually craving Thai anyway; let's go."

As soon as Andrew came in cracking jokes, Rory started to feel a little better. She put all thoughts of Logan out of her mind as Andrew started in with his exaggeration of his workday. "And would you believe that he was actually trying to justify the bonuses to some of these CEOs and analysts at these government bailout firms? I tried to explain a Marie Antoinette analogy, but it went completely over his head. It was like he didn't recognize that the economy has still not recovered because not everyone was bailed out like the banks. _Oh you mean not everyone lives in a penthouse on the Upper East Side with a house in Greenwich, and a chateau in France?_ I mean, really, how clueless are these guys?"

She finally let a laugh escape her. She loved when Andrew let loose with a good rant on the state of the economy and some of the higher ups in the firm where he was a consultant. She really didn't understand how people could be so fascinated with economics; she only got as far as the economy through the eyes of Richard Gilmore, which had been a great class, but not something she could do for the rest of her life.

As she let loose with a laugh, Andrew cracked a smile, "well I'm glad I could at least cheer you up, now what are you going to do to cheer me up?" He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked at her, which only made her laugh more. "I don't know why you don't take my moves seriously. You are going to be so jealous when I sweep another woman off her feet with those moves."

"If you can get any woman with _those_ moves, I will bow down and kiss your feet. But as it is, your moves are awful, and you know that."

Knowing that her teasing could go on for a while, he chose to shut her up with a brief, but firm kiss. It was at that time that Rory's _Spidey-sense_ started to go off. Something was up, she subtly took a look around the dining room, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary she focused her attention back on Andrew. She still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off though.

Noticing her change in demeanor, Andrew decided to drag whatever was going on with her out in the open. "So you know why my day was shit, what's been going on with you this week to get you boozy?"

Rory sighed, she couldn't hide it forever. "Well actually, remember how I told you about my last year at Yale and the culmination on my graduation day?"

He nodded, beginning to put the pieces together in him mind, "you mean turned-down proposal, lost the love of your life graduation day? Yeah, I believe that is something that's kind of hard to forget. So what's going on?"

"He's back. On the east coast. In New York. Working with Hugo. I am going to have to see him at the dinner Hugo's having this weekend."

"Wow, we so should have started with you. My Marie Antoinette thing was nothing compared to this. So, you haven't talked since graduation day, right? And now you are going to have to see him and his wife at a function for your job? That sucks."

"He's divorced." She tried to say that with as little emotion as possible.

"Ahh, It's all starting to fall into place now. So are you hoping to start things up with him again?"

"What? No! First, I really don't think he would want to be with me again after I turned down his proposal, regardless that it happened years ago. Second, what makes you think _I _want to get together with him after he just left me all those years ago. He ruined my graduation day! And third, I'm with you. So no, there will be no starting things up with him again."

"Interesting choice of numbering there; I'm surprised I ranked at all," he joked. At the scowl on her face, he relented, "okay, bad time to joke. Seriously though, why am I even on the list? We know the score between us. We could never be a permanent thing. We would kill each other. And second, why wouldn't he want to be with you again? You've both grown up and moved on, so now would be the perfect time to see if you fit together again. And third, if you were honest with yourself, you are intrigued and interested to know what it would be like if the two of you were together now that you both have figured out your places in life. Will I be sad that I don't get to see you as much, and I'll be losing the sex…absolutely. But it will give me a chance to practice my moves on the ladies that will truly appreciate me for being the gift from God that I am."

"Pig. You know you can't do any better than me."

"Sad. But probably true. Don't rub it in Gilmore. And don't try to change the subject either…if you decide you want to try something with him again, let me know. I'll remove myself from the situation. No hard feelings. We both knew the score with this 'relationship'."

"I just don't think I can go there again. I really can't allow myself to think about going there again, because sappy or not, I don't think my heart could take it again."

"I think you're stronger than you're giving yourself credit for, and I also know that you never moved on. No matter what you say, you know at least that is true. Otherwise you never would have hooked up with me, and you would be married with a kid by now. You've always wanted to leave that option open. Even if he hadn't, you always did. There is something brave about that. You never gave up on the idea of a life with him."

"You're reading way too much into my life choices. I just never met anyone that I wanted to get serious with, and besides I like hanging out with you. And if I can also get some sex every now and then with someone I trust, even better."

"You say po-ta-to, I say po-tah-to. Yes, we both like the friendship and the sex, but we both know why you've held out on starting anything too serious with anyone else in the last 5 years."

"Nope. You don't pass go, you don't collect the $200. You have no idea what you're talking about."

Whether she believed him or not, he had planted the seed. She would be analyzing her life of the past 5 years for days and weeks to come. Things with Logan were never so cut and dry. She did start to have the suspicion that if she did take a deeper look at her life she would find some truth in what her friend was saying. She was not looking forward to this introspection one bit, but she knew it was inevitable and necessary.

_**A/N: **_I haven't really double checked this since it was written. Hopefully there aren't too many continuity issues, as there were rewrites for last chapter and I didn't really touch this one. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Logan silently followed Hugo out of the restaurant to their new dinner destination. Once they made it out onto the street he let out a sigh. _I was definitely not prepared for that._ All he could think _was who was that guy? How long had she been seeing him? Were they serious? Shit, were they married? No, they couldn't be married because he would have heard about that one_. Unable to keep the questions in any longer, he blurted, "So who was that guy? She's not married, is she?"

Not really sure how to answer, or if it was even his place to answer, Hugo stood there contemplating. Finally he spoke up, "look, why don't we hold this conversation until we're sitting down, preferably with some food and alcohol in front of us."

Logan nodded his assent. Alcohol was definitely going to be necessary tonight, especially since he feared the information his friend was going to relay to him. Once inside the restaurant and seated, he quickly ordered a scotch neat, and told the waiter to keep them coming not caring if that was the best drink to accompany Thai food. He had a feeling he wasn't going to taste much of the food anyway.

Hugo was caught off guard by the degree to which Logan seemed disturbed by seeing Rory again. He knew it would be a shock but this exceeded his thoughts on the subject. He was stalling because he really didn't want to get involved in the middle of what would surely become the Rory/Logan saga. "Okay, so I'm not going to go into full details here or anything, because it is not my place. And honestly I don't want to get in middle of what is likely to become a big "thing" between the two of you." He sighed and then proceeded to tell Logan as little as possible but enough to quell Logan's oncoming freak-out. "Look, I don't know the specifics, but I can tell you without a doubt Rory is not married and has never been married. If you want more details on her personal life, you are going to have to go directly to the source. I don't talk about your personal life with her, so I won't talk about hers with you."

"Really? You've never once talked to her about me?"

"She's asked, and I've refused to give information. Has she talked about you and I've listened? Sure. But anything outside of that, I've stayed out of it and plan to continue. So if you want to talk, I'll listen, but I'm not divulging anything that is going to drag me into the middle of whatever it is you two have going or will have going as soon as you come face to face and start working together."

"Well if you're not going to help me out here with some information, I'd rather just forget the whole thing. I'm not going to sit here and talk "feelings" because my ex-girlfriend may or may not be seriously involved with someone else after all this time that we've spent apart. I was married, remember, so it's not like I have any right to be pissed off or jealous that she's with someone."

"You're right, you don't. But that doesn't mean that you aren't pissed as hell right now that I won't spill because you are so jealous of what is going on back at that restaurant."

"Shut up."

"Well put. And to think that I pay you to for your way with words…maybe we should renegotiate your fee per article."

"Okay, smartass, let's order and talk shop. So when is this company shindig that you have planned and where is it? And basically the main question is will Mitchum be there?"

"Saturday, 9:00, and as far as I know the Dark Lord will not be appearing. Your lovely ex, however, will definitely be there." He added that last part just to get a reaction, and he was rewarded with a glare.

"You've made your point. No more talk of Rory. But I do have to admit it was good seeing her. And it is good to be back on the East Coast. I missed the non-stop action and movement that is inherent in the city. California, while great at first, lost its charm; it was too laid back and not…real, if that makes sense. Eh, listen to me. I sound like a schmuck. Give me my next assignment so I can cut the bullshit and get back to what I'm good at."

"No problem. There are actually a few things that I need covered, so you can take your pick before I pass them off on others. So politics, economy, or special interests?"

"I'll take what's behind door number 2, Monty."

RLRLRLRLRLRLRL

Rory had put all of her focus on work in the days leading up to the company party that she was required to attend. Every now and then, though, images of her time with Logan made its way into her head wreaking havoc on her story and her piece of mind. Stupid Andrew putting all those thoughts in her head… So what if she hadn't had a serious relationship since Logan. It's not like she had been pining for him since her graduation day.

These were the thoughts that were still plaguing her on the Saturday of Hugo's party. She knew that she would see him, but she wasn't sure what to expect. Would he initiate conversation with her? Would he talk to her at all? Should she try to talk to him first? No, definitely not…Rory was not up for that one. But she couldn't help but think about the re-meet and the working together in the same building. She was on the lookout for him in the office, hoping to get the awkward meeting out of the way so they wouldn't be subjected to society during their first meeting since the rejection.

Rory was meticulous in preparing for the night. She found the perfect dress for the occasion, something that would hopefully cause Logan to stare and maybe even drool a bit. Of course once Andrew saw the dress, she couldn't get rid of his stupid smirk or the "I told you so" look.

"What?"

"Nothing. I thought you said that you didn't want to start anything with him again, has something changed? Are the 'what ifs' killing you so you decided you had to get his attention using your feminine wiles?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Nothing has changed, I don't want to start anything with him, and I don't even want to see him tonight."

"Uh huh. I don't buy it. Why the new knockout dress? It's not like he's seen any of your dresses that you have stashed in your closet, did you really need to buy something new for this? And something so sexy at that?"

"Everyone knows that you can't be seen in the same outfit twice at any of these types of functions. So I needed a new dress, big deal…And I definitely did not pick this out with the intention of starting things with Logan again."

"Maybe not, but admit it, you totally want him to see you in that dress and regret the day you broke things off. You want him to want you. There is a small part of you that wants him to drool when he sees you so that he knows exactly what he missed out on."

"You are quite possibly the oddest, most delusional person I know. And that is saying a lot considering the town I grew up in. This dress has nothing to do with Logan. It has everything to do with me wanting to feel confident. Plus I really did need a new dress, and I liked this one; it's all blue and pretty and the saleswoman said it looked great on me. Granted she probably just wanted to make a sale, but she sounded sincere and I thought it looked good. It does, right? Look good, I mean. It's not too much? Oh God, I look like a ho, don't I? It's too much. You can tell me."

"Rory, relax. You look great. You know you look great. And Logan isn't going to be able to take his eyes off you." She could hear the humor in his voice as he added the last comment.

Finally she admitted, "so maybe it wouldn't suck if he drooled a little…" When she saw the sparkle in Andrew's eyes, she quickly added, "but that doesn't mean that I want him back. It just means that it would be nice to see his reaction is all, and it would be nice if he still appreciated...um, the view."

He chuckled softly and kissed her forehead. "He'd have to be blind not to appreciate the view. I really hope that tonight isn't too awkward, and my offer still stands to go with you. We could totally make him jealous."

"I go back to my previous statement about you being odd. You are pushing me toward another man. We are sleeping together, yes? Are you looking to end this so soon?"

"Nah. I'll leave that up to you. We've had this discussion before, several times this week, in fact. It's time to let it go. The sooner you realize what you want out of life, the sooner you realize that it is not me and you're going to kick me to the curb. It would be hard, but I'd live. You're my best friend, kid. I just want you happy, and I know that while I make you happy, I don't make you _happy_. So I'm just letting you know that I will bow out gracefully when the time comes. And then I will probably hit on all of your female friends…"

"Dork."

"…just letting you know in advance. Now finish getting ready, you have a party to go to, and a blonde to make drool."

RLRLRLRLRLRLRL 

She checked her lipstick one more time before leaving the ladies' room and heading back out to the party to avoid and keep an eye out for Logan. Not paying attention she collided with someone, spilling the contents of her handbag on the floor. "Umph…sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Well I'd say this'd count as a cute meet if we hadn't already met."

Knowing that voice anywhere, she finally looked up at the human wall that she ran in to. "Logan?"

"Ah, come on Ace, it's only been five years. Are you telling me you've forgotten me already? I'm crushed." He carried on with this line of banter with more confidence than he actually felt.

Rory just looked at him, not sure how to answer the question. Was that supposed to be a jab at her for declining his proposal? Did he think that she would move on and forget who he was and their life together? And why did he have to call her Ace? That was below the belt. She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Now she realized why this preeminent meeting was so nerve-wracking. She really couldn't do this now. How could he make light of what they'd had? Rory began to look around for the nearest exit, or maybe she could just duck back inside the ladies' room.

At the look on her face, he realized his blunder right away. This was just as awkward for her as it was to him, but he reverted back to being an ass. "Look, sorry, I didn't mean that…it sounded a lot more carefree and non-asshole-ish in my head. But by the look on your face, I'm going to go to say that I missed the mark."

Rory still did not speak. The longer she remained silent the more uncomfortable Logan got. Finally she spoke, "Don't worry about it. It's just a shock seeing you again. I mean I knew that you would be here, but knowing and seeing are completely different, right? And here you are, it's like you haven't changed at all, except obviously you have. I mean it's been five years, right? I've changed too. See, look at my hair, that's different. And you, you're tanner and blonder, which I guess makes sense because you live in California and there's all that sun there and you were always an outdoorsy, beachy, kind of guy. Well, except, I guess that you don't live there anymore, so maybe you'll become a little paler, but don't worry pale is the new tan, or so I've been told. And are you going to stop me anytime soon or are you going to let me talk like an idiot for another ten minutes?"

A third of the way through her rant, memories of them together and her ranting about some random topic for minutes on end flashed in his mind. Happiness, guilt, and sadness swept over him all at once. He snapped out of it when she asked her question. "Well, I do miss the Gilmore rants, you and your mom are legendary. It felt like old times."

He said that last part a little wistfully, but Rory was too wrapped up in her own feelings that she missed it. They both spent the next few seconds trying to collect themselves. This was even more awkward than they had both anticipated. Thankfully, they were spared when Hugo found them.

"So I see you two have found each other." That was a loaded statement if ever there was one.

**_A/N: _So here is the next installment. Let me know your thoughts or criticisms. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"So I see you two have found each other." The words hung in the tension-filled air between them as they continued their eye contact, neither willing to lose the game of chicken that had begun when those words were uttered. They probably would have continued to stare had Hugo not cleared his throat. At the disruption, they both looked away from each other, Logan toward the sound and Rory out toward the crowd of people so that she could collect herself. Logan used this time to get a good look at how time had changed the woman that once meant everything to him. She definitely got better with age—she was a classic beauty and now her look was more sophisticated, more refined. New York society would never have guessed that she didn't grow up as one of them by looking at her. The more he noticed the changes in her, the more he felt slighted that he hadn't been there to see it happen. He had missed the last few years in her life, and with that thought the resentment returned. As he looked away he caught Hugo's smirk at being caught checking out his former girlfriend. He was just thankful that Rory appeared to be in a world of her own and hadn't noticed.

Rory's gaze finally returned to the two men as she struggled to shake away the cobwebs of a relationship long over. Realizing that no amount of preparation could have prepared her for this night and this meeting, she began to regret her decision to keep Andrew away from tonight's festivities. She could really use an ally, and it wouldn't hurt to have Logan see her with someone else. If for no other reason than for the illusion that she had actually moved on with her personal life rather than mourn the loss of the significant relationship she had ever had. Doing another quick glance around the ballroom, she looked for an out.

Again, Hugo stepped in before she could make an excuse to exit. "So are you guys done with the re-meet? I can't imagine that you've had the awkward catching up yet. It's actually good that I caught you both here together. With the elections coming up and the economy being the hot button topic, I really wanted you guys to find an angle and run with it. With your political experience, Rory, and Logan's economic acumen I figured you two were the best for this. So I need you two to work together—shared by-line. Since Logan doesn't officially work here, you'll have to find time to meet"

They both stared at Hugo not realizing that they were going to be thrown into the fire so soon. Logan recovered first. "Sure whatever you need. I just need to get settled in but then I can get started on whatever you want. Rory I'm sure you already have lots of notes, in color-coded folders if that's still your organizational method of choice, which I can go over. Once I've read through it I can give you my thoughts on possible angles, or we can sit and go over it all together."

Rory's mind was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that Hugo set her up and she was going to have to work _with _him right off the bat. What was he thinking? Turning back to Logan, she saw the expectant look on his face waiting for an answer. "Uh, sure. That's fine. Let me know when you're ready, and I can get you those notes. We can coordinate later this week, if that works, to get started. Okay?" At his nod, she saw her chance to get away from what was becoming a suffocating experience. "Well, okay then. Um, I guess I'll see you guys later. I've already done my rounds, and I promised Andrew that I wouldn't be too late tonight so I'm going to go. Goodnight." And without really waiting for responses from either, she took off at a fast clip to get to fresh air and a taxi that would take her home. Once inside the taxi, she closed her eyes and thought back on her night. It could have been much worse. And she was definitely going to have a chat with her boss, the rat.

RLRLRLRLRL

Logan was looking in the direction that Rory had just left. She was gone, but her parting words were engrained in his memory along with the sight of her in that amazing dress. She was going to meet up with the man in her life. Finally closing his eyes against that picture, he turned his attention back to his friend. "You couldn't resist, could you? I'm sure there are several people on your staff more than capable of doing this assignment. What are you up to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. You both have certain attributes that are necessary to come out on top of what will be, I'm sure, an alarming amount of articles written on this topic. I trust you guys to come up with something that will set _CLIO _apart from other publications. Now that I have you both here in the same city, did you think I wouldn't utilize you in the way that would maximize the earning potential and recognition for this company? Outside of competing with the major news outlets, I assure you I have no ulterior motives. What you two choose to do about your personal lives are between you. Honestly, I'd rather not know—I'm not getting sucked into this; it is not a fun place to be my friend. But I have faith your past will not interfere. Just think of me as Switzerland in your relationship or non-relationship, whichever you choose—totally neutral. I'm not picking sides of this thing and I'm not providing information. If I were to play devil's advocate here, maybe by getting it over with and working together, it will lessen any lingering tension or maybe bring it to a head; but either way you'll be able to solve it quicker and move on. Whichever. You are my two best writers, and I need to be able to utilize you—which at times will require you working together."

"So you're not thinking that us working together will push us together? Really? I don't believe you. Besides, you heard her. She's with someone…this Andrew person. I'm assuming this is the guy from the restaurant the other day." When Hugo tipped his head in acknowledgement, Logan continued, "Which is fine, I didn't expect her to be pining for me. And if I'm honest, I'm not really keen on going back down that road. What's at the end of that road is responsible for my marriage and subsequent divorce. I would like to be friends with Rory, but anything beyond that I just don't see happening."

Hugo tried to keep the smirk off his face during Logan's speech about not getting involved with Rory again. The more he talked, the more it seemed he was trying to convince himself of his desire to not start something back up with her. "Whatever you decide to do or not do with Rory is your business…but just make sure she does not get hurt, otherwise I will have to get involved. So warnings over, let's get down to business. You've already got your assignments. I know you're getting everything settled still in terms of home and you're technically just freelancing, but if you can make a brief appearance at the morning staff meeting that would be great. You said you weren't scheduled to open up your offices for a couple more weeks, so hopefully this won't be a problem. After this brief introduction, I promise you shouldn't have to come in to the offices very much at all, if ever."

Still a little shell shocked by Hugo's protection of Rory, Logan gave a brief nod of agreement to the staff meeting. "No problem. Now I think I'm going to take a cue from Rory and make my exit. I'll see you at the office. And in case I haven't said it before, thanks for letting me use you as my transition back into the New York journalism scene. It feels good to be writing again." And with that, he made his way to the exit.

RLRLRLRLR

Safely tucked inside her cab, she pulled out her cell phone and hoped that she would be able to vent to her friend. "Please answer." She listened as the phone continued to ring. Finally she heard the voice on the other end and launched into her latest crisis. She stopped when she hear the chuckle. "Are you laughing at me?"

"I wouldn't dare. It's just your ability to speak without stopping for breath is astounding. Why don't I grab some take out and meet you at your place, unless you're in the neighborhood in which case you can stop by here."

"I'm close. Order from that Indian place we had that time. You know the good one that gives bigger portions." She told the cab driver her new destination and focused her attention back on her phone call.

"No way. I'm still trying to get rid of smell in the apartment from the last time we ordered Indian per your request. I don't want complicated. I was thinking about ordering pizza. You want the usual?"

"Whatever you pick is fine. Honestly I just need a drink and a good cuddle. I should be there soon. I expect drink in hand when I walk through the door." Ending the call, she looked out the window and reflected on the night. It could have gone much worse. There could have been crying, accusations, and dates to contend with. Thankfully there were none of those things. Before she knew it the cab had stopped and the driver was waiting for payment. She thanked and paid the driver and made her way up the stairs to the door. After being buzzed in, she made her way to the apartment of her best friend.

When he opened his door the expression on her face told him most of what he expected. She could talk a good game, but she wasn't over Logan. Andrew opened his arms and she immediately sought the comfort he offered. With her nose buried in his chest he could barely understand her mumblings. "Where's my drink?"she asked with a pout and turned her big blue eyes on him. He chuckled but reached over to the bar and grabbed the glass of wine he had already poured for her. "Your beverage, milady."

"You are a lifesaver. I don't know what I would do without you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a prince among men, which is why I'm so irresistible. Pizza should be here in a few, so why don't you have a seat and begin telling me all about tonight's shindig—I didn't really what you told me over the phone. Did he drool when he saw you? I mean, how could he not? I'm sitting right here thinking about all the dirty things I want to do to you. You know, I'm starting to see how this is going to be very complicated. How weird is it that I want to hear about another man drooling over you? I mean I'm used to seeing men drool over you while we're out together, but this one has had you; he's the competition for me and any other guy who is fortunate enough to be a part of your life."

"Well we've already gone over the fact that there is something wrong with you. This just proves it further. And for your information there was no drooling. We barely even looked at each other, especially after Hugo stuck his nose into our awkward reunion. And I've already told you that it's not a competition; I'm not comparing you to him."

Just as she began telling him about her night the pizza arrived, "Hold that thought Ror. I'll be back in a second with food. Pour yourself another drink. Wine's on the counter."

So over pizza and wine, Rory told Andrew everything that had happened from the bathroom run-in to the story collaboration to the use of her old nickname. "Okay, so what's next? You guys are obviously going to be seeing each other again at work if you're writing stories together. I thought I was pretty good at reading you, but I can't tell what's going on in that pretty little head of yours right now."

"I already told you. We'll see each other through work, but since he is only a freelancer it shouldn't be too often. Unless that rat of a boss decides to throw us together again. I still don't know what he was thinking. He has said for years that he was not going to be put in the middle and what does he do? He decides that after 15 minutes of us seeing each other again that we should be working together. Is he crazy? I mean, seriously? How is that not putting himself right in the fricking middle of this, as he so delicately put it, "melodrama"? He is a hypocrite! And you want to know another hypocrite? Logan. He's a hypocrite too. I don't know what for at the moment, but give me a second and I will think of something, Mr. Smug with a nice suit and tan_. 'Oh I'd say this was a cute meet if we hadn't already met.'_ Ugh! The nerve, _'Ace, don't tell me you've forgotten about me…I'm crushed.'_ Obviously not too crushed, you were the one who left me! You were the one that got engaged within a year of our breakup! Not even a year! I mean how messed up is that? You were the one that forgot about me! You don't get to call me Ace anymore!"

At this point, Andrew had taken her hands to try to calm her down. He knew that it would be hard for her to see him again for the first time, but even he wasn't expecting this reaction. "Okay, Ror, you need to take a breath. This isn't good for you. And really, if your reaction is this strong, maybe it's best you don't work with him so soon. Just ask Hugo to reassign the article. After five years, I would think that he would understand. And even if you think his intent was not to just get the best article possible with the best reporters at his disposal, I think you owe him the benefit of the doubt. Like I said, just talk to him. He's never put himself in the middle before, and I don't think he's going to start now when he has money and reputation on the line. He's not going to risk _CLIO_ just to get you two back together." By this point Rory had already snuggled into his side and realized the validity of what he was saying. She was overreacting to a bad situation. "That must have been brewing under the surface for a while now. Did it feel good to unload?"

She smiled against his shoulder. "You have no idea. I think there's more in there, but I don't want to scare you off."

At least he got her smiling again. "There's more in there? Where does it fit? You're a wee little thing. Surely you're joking."

"I'm not joking. And don't call me Shirley."

"Oh, she's come back to me! She's quoting Leslie Nielsen! Do you know how hot that is? Let's go back to my room and I'll let you call _me_ Shirley. Wait! That's not right. Forget I said that. I don't want that image in either of our heads. Shit! I ruined it, I officially ruined the mood. You're not going to have sex with me now, are you?"

At this point, Rory couldn't contain the bubble of laughter any longer. She was laughing uncontrollably with tears streaming down her face. "Andrew, you know I love you. But no, I'm not going to have sex with you now. Even if I was in the mood, which after my night was not going to happen, I won't be able to get the image of you in drag out of my head for the foreseeable future. But I'll snuggle with you. In fact, I think I'll feel better staying here tonight."

"I guess I can live with that. But I get to be the big spoon!"

**_AN: _Let me tell you how hard it was to rein in Rory's outburst regarding Logan. In my first draft I unloaded everything that (I thought) she would think if in that situation. Then I promptly deleted it all because it wasn't the right time for that. But trust me, it will come in due time. A lot of it will be my frustration with the way the show ended—because if that was not one of the biggest let downs in TV history I don't know what was.**

**And for those not quite familiar with Leslie Nielsen, he starred in the movie Airplane! (which the quote came from), a parody—a genre in which he frequented. **


	6. Chapter 6

_**Ch. 6**_

Rory was in her office earlier than usual on Monday morning. She wanted to look over some of her notes before sending in her latest article. She had an hour before the staff meeting, and she need to talk to Hugo about the timeline for the article she was supposed to write with Logan. She decided not to try to get out of it. She still wasn't happy about him throwing her head first into an assignment with her former…everything. But in her head, she understood his reasoning. She was one of his more experienced political writers and anyone who had read anything by Logan that he could win Pulitzer's if he wrote on a regular basis. So she understood Hugo's decision, but that didn't mean she had to like it. If she could she would hide her head in the sand and pretend that Logan was still married living in California. As it was she was scared of what would come out if they were left together to hash it out, especially after her verbal explosion at Andrew's after the party. And Logan could push her buttons like no other, so really, it was only a matter of time before she exploded on him as well. But if she could get through this one article without going off on him or breaking down into a crying jag, then maybe there was hope for them to live and work in the same city after all. She would just have to make sure she prepared herself for the next time she would have to see him or talk to him.

With fifteen minutes before the staff meeting, she headed over to Hugo's office. Looking down at the papers in her hand she asked, "Hey Hugo, do you have a minute?"

"He just stepped out."

She looked up to see Logan watching her. "What are you doing here?" He wasn't supposed to be here, he was a freelancer—they never come to staff meetings. Again she was blindsided with his appearance.

"He asked me if I could come in to meet the staff since I might from time to time stop by or collaborate with the other staff. But this isn't going to be a regular thing. I will barely be here, especially once I get my own offices up and running in about a month."

"Oh. I'm just surprised is all. Freelancers don't usually come in for staff meetings. It seems as though I'm doomed to keep running into you when I least expect it."

"Doomed?"

"Well you know what I mean. I'm not prepared and then it turns awkward, like now. Besides you know how much I hate surprises and this whole situation has been one big surprise. It's weird enough just trying to grasp the fact that you are in fact back on the East Coast and that I will be working with you on occasion. I'm sorry if I'm not over the moon with all this."

"Wow. Okay. Look I didn't ask Hugo for this assignment. And I didn't show up here today to throw you off. We don't need to have really any interaction if you're so thrown off by my being here. In fact, I'll just tell Hugo that I can't work on this article or better yet, why don't I just tell him that I can't write articles for him at all? Will that make things easier for you?" He just looked at her startled expression and wished that he had made his excuses to Hugo as to why he shouldn't come into the offices. She looked like she was going to say something, but she stopped and looked away from him.

She had to look away for a minute to collect herself. She wasn't expecting this to blow up so soon. She took a deep breath and focused her eyes on his. "No, that won't make things easier for me, and that's not what I want. Poor choice of words on my part, but this whole situation is awkward for me. I'm sorry if that is not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. I haven't seen or talked to you in five years, and over the course of a week I find out you're living here and now working with Hugo—and by extension, me—and I keep running into you when I don't expect it. You know I don't handle surprises well, I never have."

"Yeah, I remember your dislike of surprises," he said under his breath.

Again she felt the barb, like she had been slapped. It seemed she was going to take all of his comments as personal attacks from when she refused his proposal.

"I'm sorry. That didn't come out right. Look, can we start over? Surely, we can put the past behind us and work together—and maybe one day we can be friends again. Or is that too much to ask?"

She smiled to herself at the 'Surely' thinking about the conversation she had with Andrew after the disastrous business party.

Logan was watching her while he was talking and noticed the smile. Thinking back on what he said that could make her smile he was coming up with nothing. He continued to look at her in confusion while he awaited her answer.

Realizing that he was waiting on an answer, she snapped out of her thoughts. "I guess we can try. At the very least we can figure out a way to work together." Looking at her watch she realized they were going to be late for the meeting, "We better go, or we'll be late. We can figure out something for the article later. _And don't call me Shirley_." She muttered the last part under her breath. She didn't think he could hear her, but at the same time she couldn't resist.

As she walked away, he realized the reason for her smile a minute ago when he had been talking. Leave it to a Gilmore to think of movie quotes when they're having a serious conversation. Still he had to chuckle, maybe they could be friends after all if there was still an ounce of normality left between them.

RLRLRLRLRL

As the meeting wrapped up, Hugo asked both Rory and Logan back to his office to discuss the timeline for their article and to get an idea of the angle they would explore for this piece. It was decided that they would do a series of articles regarding the election and the role the economy was going to play. They would each do an article on their own but there would be at least one that they would be sharing a byline, with possibly one as a point/counterpoint (if they differed in their views on the subject). When Hugo finished with them, they decided to hash out their own timeline and set up a time and place to meet to trade ideas and notes.

"So do you have time now, or do you have to go?"

Looking at his watch, he shook his head. "Sorry, but I've already been here longer than I originally planned. I'm supposed to meet my real estate agent in 20 minutes across town. So I really should go. But we really should get together again this week to exchange notes and ideas. I'll call you?"

"Um, okay, sure. You can call me this afternoon here at the office. Or tomorrow, whatever works. I will be here."

"That should work. I don't know how long it will take today, but I'll try to get back to you before you leave for the day. So, I guess I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye." She said this a minute or two too late as he had already walked away toward the elevators. Since they were going to be exchanging ideas and notes, she had better get back to work and organize her notes from her extensive coverage of the upcoming election. She also started working out a plan of attack for this assignment. Hugo was right, there were going to be hundreds of articles about the role of the economy in the election so she needed to find a way to make theirs stand out from the rest.

The ringing phone broke her concentration from the article. "Rory Gilmore."

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"Hey Mom."

"So you remember how you said you'd try to make a trip home, well I just wanted to see if you had an idea of when that would be."

"Oh. I'm not sure…I got a new assignment that is pretty much going to fill my time for the next couple of weeks at least. Probably more if it goes well and he wants more in the series."

"I'm not asking for a lot of time here Rory, we're talking one dinner. Your grandparents want to see you and it feels as though I haven't seen you in months. What's going on? Work should not interfere with your family especially since we're not asking you to come on a workday or to even miss any work. It is a relatively short drive so I really don't see the problem."

Lorelai's frustration was coming in loud and clear over the phone lines. Rory sighed and thought about how she wanted to respond while trying not to start a fight with her mom. "I'm sorry I can't give you a definite time, but I do have a big assignment to work on and the reason I can't specify a date is that I have been assigned a partner for this series of articles so I have to be flexible so that I can coordinate with him. And besides, nothing is stopping you from coming here. I had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa when they came in to town two weeks ago. I'm sure they would be fine coming here again with you. But if you are set with me coming back to Hartford then I'm sorry, you're just going to have to wait until I can figure out when it fits into my schedule."

Lorelai heard the Rory's own frustration building so she chose to cut her off before their conversation devolved into something that would serve to widen the chasm between them that had been building for years. "Okay. I'll talk to them and see if that works for them and get back to you. I know I shouldn't push but we all miss you; it seems as though you never come home anymore. Sorry. I don't want to guilt trip you. So you said you were working with someone. That's not normal, is it? I don't remember the last time you shared a byline. Is he having you break in a new employee?"

Sighing, knowing that she would eventually have to mention it she explained her situation. "No, I'm not breaking in a new employee, well, not really anyway. He's someone who started contributing about a month ago. And Hugo wants us to work together because he feels that we'll be able to write something new and different about the election than what everyone else is going to write. We haven't worked out all the details yet, which is why I can't nail down a time to come visit. He just moved back and is trying to find a place to live and set up his new offices so I am going to have to work from his timetable more than likely."

"Well that doesn't really seem fair that you have to cater to him. And if he's working for Hugo, then why is he setting up offices? Would he work there in your building?"

"He is freelancing. His company is opening a new branch here in New York but that isn't supposed to happen until about a month from now, I guess. So since he's not in my office and he has to work with real estate and designers etc, we have to set up meetings outside of work for the most part."

"Huh, weird. So who is this guy? Is Andrew jealous that he's going to have to share your spare time to be with another guy?" She said the last line in a joking voice, knowing that Andrew was not the jealous type and that there was something odd about their relationship.

"No, Andrew is not jealous. I've already told him all about what's going on. But you knew he wouldn't have cared. And if you really must know, the guy that I have to work with is Logan." She said his name quickly, hoping her mother wouldn't ask any more questions.

"What? I'm sorry. My ears must have heard wrong." Okay so apparently she wasn't going to get her wish.

"No. You heard right. I will be working with Logan."

"But how? Why? I don't get it. He runs his own company, why would he write news stories? Why would he choose to come to the publication where you work to do his writing? Hasn't he messed with you enough over the years? Why would Hugo do this? I'm sorry, but I don't get it. Why would you agree to work with him?"

Rory chose to cut her mom off before she asked any more questions. "Logan and Hugo were friends before I worked for him and really before my relationship with Logan began. So if Logan wanted to throw his hat back into the ring then it makes sense that he would go through Hugo over trying to go through his dad. And of course Hugo would want Logan to contribute because Logan has always been an excellent writer; he's better than me and this is what I do for a living—it's more of an outlet for him. I'd like to think that Hugo's motives for this are pure and he just wants to have the best possible articles, mainly because I don't think he's going to risk his reputation or his business just to play matchmaker. After really thinking it over and talking about it with Andrew, I decided to do it because I don't want to give Logan the satisfaction honestly of thinking that I can't work with him based on our past. I'm sure it's not going to be easy, but I'm not going to be petty about this. And who knows, maybe through this process I'll be able to let go some of my anger and hurt over what happened between us. I have to at least try."

"So you're really going to go through with this? I don't know how you can be in the same room as him, honestly, but it's your life. I just think you need to be careful. Now that he's divorced, you don't want to get sucked back in to that life."

"I'm pretty sure I never mentioned anything about getting 'sucked back in' but thanks for that. Based on the few conversations we've had, I would say the chance of us getting back together are nil. Happy? Is that what you want to hear? On that note, I'm going to get back to work. I'll let you know about that dinner. Bye."

Listening to the dial tone, Lorelai knew she had gone too far. It was comments like these that has added to the rift with Rory. She couldn't help it. If only she had a rewind button to take it back and start over."

RLRLRLRLRLRL

**_A/N: _Yikes! I didn't realize it's been almost a month since my last posting. No excuses. Lorelai will show up periodically in this story, but in no way is she going to be a regular. And there will be no Luke or Christopher—in case any of you were wondering—I wasn't a fan of either by the end of the series. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7**

Rory managed to get back to work after the less than cheery conversation with Lorelai. She hated that Lorelai could get into her head like that and make her think of things that she really didn't want to think about. She wanted, more than anything, to write this series and get it over with. Because there was one thing that Lorelai nailed, Logan messed with her head. He might not do it intentionally, but it was always there. When it comes to that one big love in your life, it will always play tricks with your mind.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized that she had already stayed later than she had planned. As she began the process of shutting down for the day and packing up, her phone rang. "This is Rory Gilmore."

"Rory Gilmore, as I live and breathe."

"Logan?"

"Yeah. I said I would call when I finished up with the office stuff. Did you forget?"

"No, it's just I didn't recognize the number. I guess I figured you had kept the same number all this time."

"Ah. No, actually I got the new number a couple of months after moving out to California. You know, start fresh. It made it more difficult for the old man to try to rein me back in, so that was a huge bonus."

Rory had gotten really quiet as he explained. And again, she was hurt. His fresh start meant that she couldn't contact him and that he didn't want her to contact him. That was yet one more way that he cut her out of his life. "I see," she said dejectedly.

At her reply, Logan wished he hadn't said anything at all. The hurt lingered in the connection between them. He didn't want to tell her that after two months of receiving no communication from her, he decided that he was going to wipe her from his memory and start over from scratch in California. Only a handful of his East coast connections had his new number or contact info. Despite feeling the destruction of "them" was her fault, he still didn't like it when she was hurt or sad. Those feelings he had never been able to shut down, and if he were honest probably never would. "Rory…"

"No, it's fine. It makes sense. You're in a new place, you have a new life, you're meeting new people…why wouldn't you start over? I get it. Now, can we move on?" As soon as those words left her mouth, she wished she could reel them back in. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "I mean, can we get to the point of the call? Please. I was just on my way home, so the quicker we figure things out, the better."

Logan was mulling over her word choice as well. One of these days, they were going to have to just unload everything if they were ever going to be at a place where they could be friends or at the very least friendly acquaintances. "Sure. I just wanted to set up a time to meet to figure out the logistics of this series. It looks as though I'm not going to be able to make it in to the office during normal business hours anytime soon so we'll have to figure something else out. You're more than welcome to come to my new office space and we can work here, we could meet at one of our apartments, or we could do the restaurant/coffee shop thing. You're choice."

She realized that the chances of them working together in the office or via email were slim, but she had still held out hope. One thing she did know for sure is that apartments were out. That could only lead to trouble. "Won't there be decorators or loud, construction-y noises at your office? Maybe we should just meet up at a coffee shop either near your office or mine."

Sighing, he knew what that suggestion meant. She did not want to be alone with him. "That's fine. If you don't mind, the closer to my office the better. I would prefer not being across town if something goes awry with the set up. There's a place called _Cool Beans_ right down the street. Will that be okay? We can get some of the initial work done there, and then once the office is finished we can utilize that space while it is still relatively empty and quiet."

"Why do we need empty and quiet? And why can't we just do this over email again? We are writing, not joining a think tank."

"No, we're not joining a think tank. But there are some things that you just need to hash out face to face and not through social media. Besides, we always worked best together when we were in the same room bouncing ideas off each other. And that was just for the school paper. Doesn't Hugo deserve our best?" He realized he probably took that a bit too far, and mentioning their past was a mistake. But he wanted to push the issue between them.

Her silence spoke volumes. She was either again upset or pissed off that he brought up their past. "We _used_ to work best when together over _five years ago_. I have no idea if that is still the case. And of course, I want to do my best for Hugo. Again, the last five years have proven that." Okay, so pissed it was.

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it. I just think that even after all this time, we would still do best face to face bouncing ideas off each other. If you don't want to do that, just say it and we can email everything back and forth. The result will probably be fine, but not great. That's just my opinion, but I will leave it up to you."

"Fine. _Cool Beans_ tomorrow at 11. We can schedule any other time together from there. Now if it's just the same to you, I would really like to head home. So can everything else wait until tomorrow?"

"I guess it can. See you tomorrow then." He hung up and was discouraged and yet encouraged all at the same time. The fact that she didn't want to be alone with him said a lot. While that sucked, he understood it. And that she was still so affected by him, actually gave him hope. He didn't really want to dwell on why he felt hope. Because she had completely leveled him, he didn't want to go there again, right? He was starting to think that Hugo might be on to something, and he wasn't so sure of his motives anymore.

RLRLRRLRLRL

Logan was already there when she arrived. She thought back to their conversation the night before and cringed. She had to admit that nothing he said should really have garnered the response that it did, however after the talk with her mom she felt a little raw in regards to their relationship both past and their current one. So she decided that she would just apologize and then they could move on.

Taking the seat across from him, she didn't give him much time to notice her presence, much less saying anything before she got it off her chest. "I'm sorry for yesterday. You didn't say or do anything that warranted my reaction. Of course we will get our best from working face to face. That shouldn't have even been a discussion. If I'm honest, I was still dealing with the mental exhaustion of a Lorelai phone call and I probably took some of my frustration out on you, okay I definitely took some of my frustration out on you. I twisted your words to make them something they weren't. And if your office is in working order with internet and phone lines and chairs, then we can work there. I'm not normally a petty person, but I got it into my head that you wanted the upper hand with your surroundings, but that's just stupid. We're not in battle; we don't need the upper hand over each other in writing these articles. Right? Right. So I made some notes and I think we should just jump right in. Unless you have somewhere you want to start first? I brought my notes with me so that should be a good jumping off point. Or do you want to ditch the coffee shop and go to your office? Really, I'm good with whatever."

He stared at her for a long moment to make sure she was done. He missed this. "Wow. Um, okay. You kind of beat me to the punch. I was going to apologize to you."

Confused, she asked, "What for? You didn't do anything wrong."

"There's a first. However, that was a low blow with the Hugo comment. Of course you want to give him your best. As you pointed out yesterday, you have been doing that for five years now. And I should know, I've read almost everything you've written. So I am sorry for that."

"Apology accepted. So should we get started? Here or office? Just let me get some coffee first."

"Ace, I think you've had enough judging by your opening rant."

"Never! Give me a minute and I'll be right back waiting on your decision." She quickly dropped her stuff at the table and headed to counter to order. She had a smile on her face because of his apology and the fact that he had kept up with her writing and seemed to like it. That meant more to her than it probably should, but she didn't care.

Logan watched her as she placed her order and made conversation with the person in line next to her. She had really come into her own. She was definitely in her element here. Not for the first time, he realized his mistake all those years ago when he tried to take her out of it. It might have been different if there was a job for her attached to his plan, but he would just have to live with the what ifs. He tried to shake off the unwanted thoughts as she walked up with her coffee.

"Penny for your thoughts. Seriously, you looked knee deep in it whatever it was."

"You know my thoughts don't come that cheaply. Show me the money and we'll talk."

"Okay Jerry Maguire. But seriously, what were you thinking about? Maybe I can help. You might not know this but I could have been a shrink. That is how good my listening skills are. Plus I could be the next 'Dear Abby' because I am awesome with the advice. So let me have it."

"Thanks, but it's just office stuff. And who are you kidding? A shrink? With your ability to talk? I don't think so. So about these notes…tell me they are in color-coded files according to source and subject."

She turned pink at the reminder of their earlier days of working together on stories. "Okay, so I like organization. What is wrong with that? Nothing, I say. You shouldn't mock, because if memory serves you wrote a very good article using my notes. Thank you very much. And I will never agree with your assessment of my shrinking skills." At his smirk she amended, "whatever, my listening skills. Don't pretend you didn't know what I was talking about."

"You're right. I should not mock that which helps me immensely. So let's get you and your color-coded files to my office so we can start. But I still hold firm that your 'shrinking' abilities are probably not your strong suit."

Glad that they were in a much better place without all the weirdness, she grabbed her things and followed him to his new office.

"Wow. This is big. How many employees did you say would be working here?"

"Oh, about 50 or so here. Plus there are offices set aside for when my partners need to come out here to work."

"Again, wow. For what it's worth, Logan, I'm really proud of you and what you've accomplished. I always knew you could do it."

"Thanks, Ace. That means more than you could possibly know." He almost added, "I just wish you had been there to share it." But he stopped himself, because he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere they had created over the course of today's meeting.

Rory was thankful that he stopped where he did. She could tell he was going to add more; his eyes said it all. And for not the first, nor probably last time, she agreed with his unspoken comment. She tried to maintain the atmosphere that they had shared today, so she just said, "You're welcome. So how about a quick tour then we can get started."

"Sounds good."

They spend the next 30 minutes or so wandering the offices and talking about how everything was going to look once the decorators got their hands on the space. "So what do you think? Any suggestions?"

"This place is amazing; you done good, kid."

"So you wouldn't change anything? Come on, this is your last chance to put any kind of a stamp on these offices."

She wasn't sure why he would want her stamp on his office, but she took her chance anyway and made a few suggestions. "Okay, well if it was my office I would…" She rattled off several suggestions that he filed away for when the decorators came in later in the day.

RLRLRLRLRLRL

They were able to agree on a plan of action and talk over notes that each had compiled. It was decided that until everything was completed, they would meet every other day in his office at lunch time until this thing was complete. Both were hoping that it might take a little longer than they thought to put this series of articles to bed.

**AN: **Mea maxima culpa. Hopefully it doesn't take another year before my next chapter, but no promises. My posts will be sporadic.


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